


Bounty, Baby!

by trashdemon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 23:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12736419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashdemon/pseuds/trashdemon
Summary: Bounty hunter Minseok is on his way to trade in space fugitive Luhan for the biggest prize of his career. But it's a long trip to the Intergalactic Police Station, which means there's plenty of time for things to get complicated.





	Bounty, Baby!

Luhan awoke to a pounding headache and lurching nausea. As he lay groaning on the floor, he remembered the last thing he'd seen before passing out – a pair of sharp eyes, so alluring that they'd left him short of breath, scrabbling for something smart and flirty to say. It was that slip-up that had led to his current predicament which, he registered as his mind cleared and his vision began to focus, involved lying in a cell with drool dribbling out of the corner of his mouth.

Pushing through the heaviness in his limbs, Luhan sat up. He was in a cylindrical plastic cell furnished with a bed and a toilet. From the constant low humming, he guessed he was on a ship, probably in the hold of a small vessel. Beyond the clear plastic walls, he could see crates of supplies, basics like food and also boxes he couldn't quite read the label of. It was well-lit for a hold, with the walls painted a calming off-white. 

Luhan reached up and was relieved to find his earrings still in place. He had, in fact, been left in his own clothes, only his jacket and weapons removed. He thumbed at the back of his earring, but decided it wasn't time to activate it yet. Pressing his face against the plastic, he squinted at the floor and off-white walls. On one side of the hold was the main door leading to the body of the ship, and towards the other end was a larger door for goods to be loaded. He circled the perimeter of his cell, scouring for an exit. 

"Awake and lively?" a voice came, muffled, from behind him. 

Luhan spun around and choked on his saliva. Watching through the plastic, smirking with an eyebrow quirked, was the owner of those beautiful eyes. As he rubbed drool off his face, Luhan regretted squandering his waking moments on finding escape routes when he should have been thinking of pick-up lines. 

"There was really no need to drug me," Luhan said. "I would've let you take me back to your ship regardless." 

He recognised now that the man standing before him was none other than bounty hunter Kim Minseok, intergalactically renowned for charming space pirates to their doom. And Luhan had fallen right into the honey trap, following Minseok's sweet angel face and delicious hips out the back of the bar, where the bounty hunter had shot a syringeful of tranquiliser into Luhan's arm. 

Minseok's grin widened. "I can't say I reciprocate. Sorry to hurt your feelings, pretty boy, but you aren't my type." 

"So you admit it then," Luhan said, leaning a shoulder against the plastic wall, "you think I'm good-looking." 

Minseok raised his eyebrow even higher and Luhan clapped. 

"Yo, I got you, didn't I?" 

Picking up a cup of instant noodles from one of the crates, Minseok said, "It's a shame the Intergalactic Police want you delivered alive. I happen to have a sizeable stock of various poisons on this ship that I'm itching to try out." 

"Aha, resorting to death threats already? Clearly, I've won," Luhan goaded as he received the cup of noodles that Minseok was beaming into the cell. "You obviously have a thing for me." 

A frown on his cute lips, Minseok furrowed his brows in mock consideration. "The only thing I would have to decide is how painful to make your death." 

"That's cute, that's real fucking cute." Luhan was practically bouncing on his toes with how much Minseok's arrogant expression excited him. "Why don't you let me out so we can have a little play and you can give me another shot of tranquiliser if it doesn't suit your fancy?" 

The ship lurched, throwing both men off-balance. Only Luhan lost his footing, banging his head against the plastic wall. 

"You sure are in high demand," Minseok said over his shoulder, heading back towards the door he'd come from. "I thought I'd shaken off the pursuers." 

Soon after Minseok had left, the ship jerked as they accelerated. 

"We've got a whole biker gang on our tail," Minseok's voice crackled over the intercom. "This may get a little bumpy. I suggest you strap yourself in." 

Luhan scanned the cell for a chair, then groaned when he noticed the seatbelt attached to the toilet seat. He slammed down the lid and buckled up just as Minseok throttled the ship. Boxes tumbled around the hold, bumping against the plastic walls of Luhan's cell. Nausea hit him and he was glad he hadn't yet touched any of the cup noodles. 

A loud thump echoed through the shell of the ship, making the walls vibrate. 

"Shit. One of them's latched onto us," Minseok said. "They're trying to break in." 

The thumping continued, growing in intensity despite Minseok's tight maneouvres attempting to throw the intruder off. 

Finally, there was the sound of rending metal and Minseok growled, "The bastard's ripped through the outer door of the hold." 

Metal clanged against the loading door, making Luhan jump. A large dent appeared in the centre of the wall. With another ringing blow, the door creaked and buckled further. A few more strikes and the biker would be through. 

Luhan gripped the porcelain toilet bowl. "Well, Minseok, it was nice knowing you. Though I would've liked at least a kiss before freezing in the vacuum of space." 

There was no reply and Luhan was worrying that his words had sounded a little bit too awkwardly romantic when Minseok burst into the hold, dressed in a spacesuit and helmet. He clipped his safety line to the wall and ran to Luhan's cell, unlocking it with a retina scan. 

"Go!" Minseok yelled through the helmet, pushing Luhan towards the body of the ship. 

Luhan dashed through the pair of airlock doors and took the stairs two at a time, passing through another door at the top to enter the cockpit. 

The cockpit was styled in the same soothing off-white, the clean lines making the small space look larger than it was. Visible through the windscreen, marring the black expanse of space, was a swarm of bikers in their silver jetsuits, whizzing towards Minseok's craft. The ship was in autopilot, navigating as best as its AI could manage. Luhan leapt into the pilot seat, smiling at the comfort of being behind the wheel of a vessel. Set into the most visually pleasing and ergonomic control panel Luhan had ever seen was a series of screens showing footage from various parts of the ship. Luhan located Minseok immediately. The bounty hunter had one hand firmly grasping a wall railing and the other aiming a raygun at the crumpling loading door. As Luhan watched, the door gave way, but before the biker could even take a step into the hold, Minseok fired his raygun three times. The biker collapsed, the front of his suit smoking and the jets behind his heels sputtering before dying out. With nothing propelling it, the body was sucked out into space, along with a barrage of boxes that burst open, leaving a cloud of cup noodles in the spacecraft's wake. 

Luhan took up the manual controls, firing at the incoming swarm of bikers before sharply changing the ship's direction by 90 degrees. The airlock door hissed and Minseok entered the cockpit, shedding his spacesuit. 

He tapped Luhan on the shoulder. "You're in my seat." 

Luhan swung the ship around again, shooting down another of the bikers. "But I'm doing such a great job." 

"This is my ship," Minseok said. "You can take the turret." 

Luhan saw the ladder Minseok was pointing to and grinned, relinquishing controls to the bounty hunter. He climbed up to the turret controls and let loose a rapid-fire assault on the cluster of bikers. 

Luhan whooped. "I love this thing!" 

"Yes, I've heard you have a predilection for massacres." Minseok's voice was flat over the speakers, but Luhan detected distaste behind his words. 

It stung, but Luhan couldn't blame Minseok from assuming his moral depravity. After all, he'd been labelled an insurgent for obliterating an entire fleet of the Koko Space Force. 

"Well, you might not have heard the whole story, baby," Luhan said, taking out the last of the bikers and climbing back down to the cockpit. 

Minseok steered the ship back onto course. The defunct bodies of the bikers floated past, their limbs rigid and their faces obscured behind the dark plastic of their helmets. Died hoping to make some quick cash out of him. 

"Koko were trying to capture my friend," Luhan said. 

"I don't care." Minseok didn't look around. 

Luhan managed two steps towards him when suddenly a great weight yanked at his arm and he was pulled to the ground. A gravity-modification band had been fastened around his wrist. He hadn't even noticed it a moment ago, but now it was so heavy that it was like trying to lift up a spaceship. 

Minseok rested his chin on the back of his seat and smiled at Luhan. "You didn't think I'd let you roam around at will, did you? The pressure is busted in the hold so you can't go back to the cell, but you're going to have to behave if you don't want to be kept restrained." 

Luhan grinned. "What if I want you to restrain me?" 

Minseok rolled his eyes and went back to his control panel, leaving Luhan sitting lopsided with his left forearm flat against the floor. Something wet touched his fingers and he looked down to see a grey Norwegian Forest cat licking at his hand. 

"Adorable!" Luhan squealed, scooping the animal up in his free arm. It was little more than a kitten, its long fur soft and well-groomed. 

"Tan, no! That man is dirty," Minseok grumbled. 

Luhan rubbed Tan's ears and the cat closed its eyes contentedly. "Reminds me of my old fat grey." 

"Oh? You have a cat?" 

"He's dead now," Luhan said, setting Tan back on the floor. 

The cat returned to its owner, making itself comfy in Minseok's lap. It was quiet apart from the engine hum and Tan's purring. 

"I have no love for Koko," Minseok said finally. "I grew up on space station 042011. It wasn't much, but at least we could live. Then Koko decided our station wasn't profitable enough and discontinued it. I never wanted to be a bounty hunter, but it's the only way I can support myself. This ship is my home now and I need the money to maintain it." 

Luhan looked enviously at Tan, snuggled in Minseok's small hands. 

"Koko destroyed my home planet too," Luhan said. "We were an academic civilisation built on the study of the warp-metal abundant in our land. The Gatekeepers were at the forefront of research, innovating new ways to use warp-metal. But then Koko came to our planet and they mined it, industrialised it, then left it to crumble after they'd sucked it dry. But when all seemed lost, the Gatekeepers revealed the fruits of their research – they'd learned to make portals. The planet was evacuated en masse, but Koko, desperate for this new technology, hunted down the Gatekeepers. Most of them are missing, others tortured and dead, but no one's given up the goods yet. Now they're coming after my friend. What can I do but protect him?" 

Luhan felt the weight on his arm alleviate as the gravity-modification bracelet switched off. His cat coiled around his shoulders, Minseok stood, watching him. Luhan got to his feet and followed as Minseok led him out of the cockpit. They passed through a living area, where Tan slunk off to curl on the couch. Minseok opened an adjacent door and gestured for Luhan to enter. 

It was Minseok's bedroom. A pink plush animal decorated the neatly made bed and a shelf displayed rows of shoes sorted by colour. The living room was visible through a large window over the desk. 

_It's happening!_ Luhan thought gleefully. 

He turned around with his best seductive face but Minseok was still outside the room wearing that frustrating smirk. 

"Enjoy your new cell, and don't mess up my stuff," Minseok said, and before Luhan could overcome his shock, Minseok slammed the airlock door shut. 

*** 

Luhan sat at Minseok's desk, watching the bounty hunter vacuum the living room. It had been five days since he'd been locked in the bedroom, and every morning he had looked out the window to see Minseok cleaning the spaceship. Sometimes he would even vacuum twice a day, which was beyond Luhan's understanding. 

When Minseok entered the room to bring him a cup of instant noodles, Luhan said, "I could do the vacuuming for you." 

Minseok scoffed. "You wouldn't do a proper job." 

"Give me a go?" 

Minseok looked uncomfortable, then admitted, "It's my hobby. I do it to relieve stress." 

"Ah. I thought you just liked to keep things in good repair. But I guess that explains why you haven't bothered to fix the engine leak." 

Minseok blinked. "What's wrong with my engine?" 

"You can't hear that?" Luhan mimicked the low sound. "Our encounter with the bikers must have knocked a valve loose. From the sounds of it, I'd give it a few more days before it gives out." 

"Shit." Minseok worried his fingers. "It's at least fifteen days until the nearest service station." 

"You don't know how to fix a valve?" 

"I won't tamper with something that should be left to experts." 

Luhan pointed to the gravity band around his wrist. "I can fix it." 

Minseok narrowed his eyes. "You're bluffing." 

"Can't you hear it?" Luhan said, imitating the sound again, and Minseok had to admit that he could hear it, rumbling in the bowels of his ship like a bellyache. "I really don't think you're gonna make it to the service station." 

Minseok grabbed Luhan by the collar, startling him. "All right, but if you try to sabotage..." 

"I won't. I'm on this ship too, aren't I?" Grinning, Luhan leant into Minseok. "Besides, I like you." 

Grabbing Luhan by the back of the neck, Minseok switched off the gravity band and dragged him through the ship to the airlock door leading to the hold. 

Minseok hesitated, his grip on Luhan still strong. "You swear you're being honest?" 

Luhan lifted his hand, making Minseok flinch until he saw it was just his little finger outstretched. "I pinky swear." 

Ignoring him, Minseok fitted Luhan in the spacesuit, ensuring the helmet was sealed tight. 

He shook the safety line in front of Luhan's face. "Don't forget this. You'll find a toolbox in the cabinet next to the door. When you're in the engine room, I won't be able to watch you on the cameras but I'll be listening if you need help. But that's my only spacesuit, so be careful." 

"Are you worried about me?" 

"I'm worried about my ship!" Minseok shoved Luhan through the door and went to slouch in the pilot's chair, arms crossed. 

He could hear Luhan's chortling over the intercom, but the man was mainly silent. After half an hour, unable to hold himself back, Minseok asked how Luhan was doing. 

"Yeah, it's a busted valve," Luhan said, voice heavy with exertion. "I'm working on it." 

He emerged an hour later, the spacesuit streaked with grease but otherwise unharmed. The clanking from the engine had stopped. 

"You really fixed it," Minseok said, hanging the suit back up. 

"Not completely useless, am I?" Luhan fixed his hair as he walked back towards Minseok's room. 

"Hey," Minseok said, standing by the sofa in the living area. He gestured to the large television screen. "I'm going to watch a broadcast. Do you want to join me?" 

Luhan's eyes sparkled. 

"Don't try anything funny," Minseok muttered as he sat, but Luhan was already curled up on the couch, laughing uncontrollably and cradling Tan in his arms. 

*** 

After some heated haggling, Minseok paid the service station the ship repairs, leaving his cash reserve frighteningly close to zero. The costs were only covering engine repairs. Repairing the hold was beyond his means, but that would be remedied when he got the bounty from turning in Luhan. He just had to make sure he didn't lose the wanted criminal, who was currently standing beside him, gazing around at the huge ships in the garage. To protect his identity, Luhan's face was obscured by goggles and a dust mask. 

"Let's go," Minseok said, tugging Luhan's arm. "We have a whole day to kill before the ship will be done." 

The outpost, a satellite of a dwarf planet in an isolated solar system, was fairly large, bustling with merchants and travellers. Minseok browsed the marketplace, holding onto Luhan's wrist, but somehow his grip must have slipped and they ended up clasping hands. 

"Are you looking to redesign your ship?" Luhan asked. 

Minseok stopped his careful scrutiny of control panel modules. "I'd love to, but there's no way I can afford it." 

Luhan was quiet and Minseok knew what they were both thinking – it was Luhan's freedom that he would sell for income. His hand, intertwined with Luhan's fingers, sweated, but he was too afraid that Luhan would bolt if he let go. 

As the artificial sun set, they went to dine at the pub, sharing a large food set in the dim light. It reminded Minseok of their first meeting, in a dark noisy room warmed up by alcohol. But this time there were no fingers slipping into back pockets, just Luhan gazing at him with lidded eyes full of affection. Somehow, this felt more intimate. 

"Do you normally treat your bounty so well?" Luhan laughed, gulping down a healthy portion of food. At Minseok's silence, he continued, "Look, I know you need the money. This is how you make a living, right?" 

Minseok sighed. "If my ship hadn't been torn to shreds, maybe I..." 

Four figures entered the pub dressed in large hooded robes that draped over frames too bulky to be organic. They lifted their heads to survey the pub and Minseok quickly shifted in his stool to hide his face. 

Luhan, keeping his back to the entrance, murmured. "Out the back?" 

Minseok nodded, and they picked their way through to the emergency exit, slipping out into the artificial evening of the space station. Voices echoed on the metallic walls of the alleyways, and they kept squinting over their shoulders into the gloom. 

"To the ship," Minseok said. "We have to get the hell out of here." 

Turning a corner, they came face to face with two hooded figures, their cloaks billowing back to reveal the jet suits below. Minseok drew his raygun and shot them down before their mechanised bodies could react. 

"Your left!" Luhan yelled, and Minseok swung around, shooting a third attacker who was bounding towards them from a perpendicular alley. 

They ran, Luhan watching the left flank and Minseok the right. Alarms blared, the indigo ceiling now flashing red. The station would soon be in lockdown. 

With a crash, a figure landed in front of them, the red lights winking off their jetsuit. As Minseok shot at the figure, Luhan suddenly charged towards Minseok and tackled him to the ground. 

Minseok had time to feel a pang of betrayal before a huge mechanical arm swung through the air where he'd been moments before. The jetsuit grazed him, scraping the skin off the side of his head, but he would have been crushed had Luhan not pushed him aside. The outlaw had saved him. 

Blood seeped from the graze on Minseok's head and, when he tried to aim, his vision spun and the gun clattered from his hand. He heard the loud footsteps of the jetsuits, muffled by the blood in his ear, and he fumbled on the floor for his weapon. There was the characteristic hiss of a raygun firing, and he looked up to see the gun in Luhan's hand, tearing down their attackers. The path cleared, Luhan advanced, his back moving further and further away. Minseok tried to run after him but stumbled. 

_He's going to get away_ , Minseok thought, his fingers brushing over the controls for Luhan's gravity band. 

But then Luhan was grasping him around the waist, hoisting Minseok's arm over his shoulders to take his weight. 

"I almost left you behind!" Luhan laughed, and Minseok's head whirled at Luhan's abandonment of self-preservation to pick his bounty hunter up off the ground. 

The alleyways cluttered with people milling in suspicious confusion. Mineok and Luhan stumbled through them, rushing towards the ship service station. Metal screeched as a biker tore through one of the market stalls, setting off a barrage of gunfire from the bystanders. Soon, the whole station would be involved in the shootout. 

Although Minseok's wound throbbed, his thoughts cleared and he panted, "There's no use. Even if we make it... the alarms... the station will be in lockdown. We can't fly out." 

Luhan winked and fiddled with the earring he wore, twisting the glimmering stone in its bezel. "Leave it to me." 

The bikers had anticipated that Minseok would be returning to his ship and a row of them was lined up outside of the service station, their weapon arms prepped. Before they were seen, Luhan pulled Minseok into a piss-smelling drain. 

"My poor ship," Minseok moaned. 

"Just hold on," Luhan murmured, "Any second now..." 

The stinking air in front of them began to distort, the light waves curving and splitting like a bulging seam. Reality burst and, through the tear in space, a man stepped through, popping open his helmet to reveal a handsome face. 

"About time, Zitao!" Luhan said. 

Zitao smiled, crinkling the line of foreign script that was tattooed from the corner of his left eye to his ear, but then grimaced, holding his nose. 

"What is that smell?" he cried, stumbling out of the gutter and into the bikers' line of sight. 

Swearing, Zitao ducked back down as the bikers began shooting. 

"We need to get to Minseok's ship inside the garage," Luhan said, gesturing to the building. "Quickly!" 

"I'm doing it!" Zitao snapped, shaking his wrists so that the silver bracelets jangled. Rings twinkling, he sliced his hands through the air, as if piercing an invisible enemy with his fingertips. Muscles straining, he pulled his hands apart, ripping open a portal just big enough for them to fit. Luhan clambered through, dragging Minseok behind him. Minseok flinched, expecting his body to lurch, but it was just like taking another step. They emerged inside the garage, right in front of Minseok's ship. 

The bikers had infiltrated the service station too and, shouting for backup, they began firing at the trio that had climbed out of the air. Luhan retaliated, Zitao joining the shootout with his own weapon after pinching the portal closed. The garage doors squealed open and more bikers rushed in, guns blazing. 

Luhan covered Minseok as he unlocked the spaceship, the hatch and stairs taking an eternity to unfold. Minseok squeezed in before the stairs touched the ground, Luhan and Zitao close behind. As soon as he was in the pilot seat, Minseok fired up the engine. As it warmed up, Luhan took the turret and released a barrage of gunfire, with the other ships in the garage taking collateral damage. 

"How many of them are there?" Zitao cried, watching the dashboard over Minseok's shoulder. 

"I spotted at least three different biker gangs here," Minseok said. "Word must have gotten out that we were in town." 

Luhan snickered over the intercom. "Told you I was in high demand, Zitao." 

The Gatekeeper snorted. "Yeah, but only because you know me." 

"Okay, take off in ten," Minseok said. "Zitao, take my cat into the living room and strap in." 

"I'm allergic though," Zitao said, scooping up Tan, who was wrapping himself under Minseok's chair. 

"We need a portal, Zitao," Luhan called, "or we're going to smash into the ceiling." 

Closing his eyes, Zitao spun his wrists through the air, drumming his fingers as if rifling through the folds of space. 

"Go now!" he shouted, and Minseok kicked in the boosters. 

The ship wrenched free of its clamps and blasted upwards. Zitao was clutching a nebulous distortion, and with the huge acceleration, he tore down sharply. Above them, a ship-sized portal opened into empty space. The sudden vacuum sucked the ship in, the force pulling the flesh against their bones. Then they were through, and Zitao yanked the portal closed. 

But not before seven bikers jetted through, latching onto Minseok's ship. 

Struggling to stand against the ship's acceleration, Luhan found Minseok's space suit. "I'll get them before they tear your ship apart. Zitao, you get out of here." 

"You're not coming?" Zitao cried, stumbling into the cockpit. "Luhan, that last portal drained me. If I warp out of here without you, I won't be able to come back for you." 

Minseok battled to control the ship as the bikers smashed at its hull. "Luhan, you don't have to do this." 

Luhan slid a new energy pack into Minseok's raygun. "Well, I want to. For something you love, right?" 

Clipping on the safety line, Luhan dove out of the airlock doors, gun blazing. The cord unravelled behind him as he floated out the broken hold, into space. There was no way he would be able to manoeuvre himself if they attacked. He took out an isolated biker on the ship's port side and was about to begin firing at the bikers on the ship's belly when blinding red and blue light flashed through space, bright as a pulsar. 

"Shit!" Zitao hissed, hunkering down behind Minseok's chair. "The cops!" 

"Get back in here, Luhan!" Minseok shouted into the intercom. "You and Zitao have to leave right now!" 

But Luhan had released a spray at one of the bikers and, as their gangmate fell, the remaining five turned towards Luhan and retaliated. At such a distance, there was no way Luhan could aim accurately with a handgun, and he shot wildly to stop them launching a proper attack. But before they fell, one of their shots sheared his safety cable. Luhan could do nothing but watch as the cable floated away, leaving him suspended and immobile in space. 

The sleek police ship approached, the emergency beacon transmitting the message, _REQUESTING SCREENING ON GROUNDS OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY_. 

"You're right, Zitao," Luhan said through the intercom. He sounded very far away. "It's you they really want to get their hands on. So get out of here." 

"Fuck!" Zitao began constructing a new portal, a tiny tear in space. "Don't think you're a martyr!" he yelled before slipping through the narrow opening, zipping it up beind him without a ripple. 

The police ship was bearing down on Luhan, whose figure was tiny in its shadow. 

"Hey, Minseok. Will you miss me?" 

Minseok chuckled. "You're so reckless." 

"Does it excite you?" Luhan's voice was teasing, then he lowered it. "No, seriously. Will you miss me?" 

A grabbing arm unfurled from the police ship, scooping up Luhan in a huge metal hand big enough to carry a small ship. 

"I'll miss you," he murmured. Then, frightened Luhan might not have heard, leant into the microphone. "I'll miss you!" 

Luhan laughed as they pulled him into the police ship. "Use the money to fix our ship, okay?" 

His next words were lost in the crackle of static as, swallowed by the police ship, his headset moved out of range. The police ship opened the hatch and switched on the indicator lights for Minseok to enter. He landed his ship in their onboard hangar and emerged to a lineup of officers pointing weapons at him. 

"Kim Minseok, registered bounty hunter 09907," he said. 

The officers relaxed. "So what he said was true, then. You really did catch a good haul. Although he almost got away from you at the last second there, didn't he? He sounded real upset about how close he got." 

"Where is he?" Minseok asked. 

"Don't worry, we got him under lock and key. He'll be shipped off straight to Koko. Definitely won't be dallying with how much they're paying us. Makes the amount they're awarding you look like scrap metal!" 

Before he could stop himself, he said, "Can I see him?" 

"Nah, we're already moving him to another vehicle. What, wanted to spit in his face one last time?" 

Minseok smiled, imagining what Luhan's expression would be if he'd heard that. He licked his lips. "Something like that." 

*** 

The new television screen was amazing. Minseok was curled up on the couch with Tan purring contentedly in his arms, watching a mindless broadcast that was incredibly immersive on his new screen. But his mind was elsewhere. 

It had been almost one month since Luhan had been arrested and Minseok found himself hoping yet again that Luhan had escaped from Koko clutches. If only he had some way to contact him for reassurance. While dusting the bedroom after Luhan had been taken, Minseok had found one of Luhan's earrings on the side table. Some nights, before turning into sleep, he swivelled it between his fingers, letting the clear stone refract the light into rainbows as if the patterns could give him answers. 

Tan yowled and climbed over Minseok's shoulder to perch on the back of the sofa. Minseok tried to shush the cat but Tan slipped out of his grasp and meowed loudly. As he stood to retrieve his cat, a head appeared in the air. 

"Delivery!" Zitao sang, and climbed out of the portal. 

Overcoming his shock, Minseok patted the Gatekeeper on the back. "You're okay!"

"Of course. I don't do crazy things, unlike this guy." 

Luhan stepped into the living room, grinning like an idiot. "Miss me?" 

No scars, no signs of torture. Truly a man that couldn't be pinned down. Minseok was sure his own grin was just as ridiculous as he yanked Luhan towards him. "Don't make me say it three times." 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this little adventure; please feel free to leave any comments or criticism!  
> A huge thank you to the mega supportive mods of EXOnaut Fest who made this experience an absolute joy ♥♥ And thank you of course to my dear prompter who captured my heart in a single line ♥


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